26. CANCRO: INFLUENZE GEOGRAFICHE E OCCUPAZIONALI Ambiente Urbano Inquinamento industriale Dieta ricca di grassi Sedentarietà Rischi occupazionali Ambiente Rurale Esposizione solare Accessibilità a strutture mediche Consumo di carne Pesticidi, fertilizzanti
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Editor's Notes
Cancer experts estimate that the risk for cancer can be reduced 60-70% by making sensible food choices, achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, being physically active on a regular basis and not smoking. Many of the recommendations for preventing cancer are the same for preventing any chronic disease. If you make these changes, you will be healthier overall.
Specifically the American Institute for Cancer Research estimates that risk for cancer can be reduced 20% by just eating 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day. They also believe nearly a third of cancers could be prevented if people just didn’t smoke. Overall they also think cancer rates could be reduced 30-40% if we ate a predominately plant based diet emphasizing fruits, vegetables and whole grains, achieved a healthy body weight and exercised most days of the week at moderate to vigorous levels.
Experts have even linked certain cancers to specific food and activity habits. For example, it is estimated that lung cancer could be reduced 30% by eating more fruits and vegetables. Stomach cancer could be reduced 66-75% if less food was preserved with salt. (This is more a problem in other areas of the world where refrigeration is less available.) Breast cancer risk might also be reduced 35-50% if women avoided alcohol and ate a plant based diet.
The NICR also believes colon and rectal cancer would also go down 66-75% if people would eat a high vegetable diet that included little red meat or alcohol and if they exercised regularly. More vegetables and fruits and little alcohol could also protect us from mouth and throat cancer. Liver cancer risk could also be greatly reduced by avoiding alcohol and by storing food so that aflatoxin could not grow.
The first P is consuming a Plant-Based Diet. Experts believe that those who eat more grains, vegetables and fruits are healthier because they tend to consume fewer calories and less fat and eat more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals. People who adhere to a plant-based diet also seem to have an overall healthier lifestyle that includes little or no alcohol.
While vegetables and fruits are a great source of vitamins, minerals and fiber, a lot of attentions has been focused lately on the phytochemcals these foods provide. Here are just a few of the phytochemicals that have been identified and where they are found.
You can see that phytochemicals, like all healthy nutrients, are widely distributed in a variety of fruits and vegetables. That means that no one vegetable or fruit has all the cancer fighting substances we need. Over consuming any one food is counterproductive – the more variety of fruits and vegetables you eat, in the least processed state possible, the better off you will be. So that’s another reason to eat more vegetables and fruits that are raw or cooked for the shortest time possible with the least amount of added fat and salt.
We also believe that overall darker colored vegetables and fruits are richer in these healthy nutrients than those that are lighter colored.
What if you don’t like fruits and vegetables very much, is taking a supplement just as good? Dr. Stephan Barnes, a pharmacology professor at the University of Alabama Birmingham may have summarized the thinking of many cancer experts when he says that “it may be that these compounds are highly interactive and do not work well when they are isolated.” In other words, eating the whole food is more beneficial to us than trying to take a supplement of one of more of these healthy nutrients. So try to expand your intake of fruits and vegetables by trying some new ones or preparing some old ones in new ways.
High fat foods have also been implicated in cancer risk. Most of the risk is related to their effect on weight gain. Ideally your intake of fat should be between 15-30% of total calories.
The third P that will reduce cancer risk is physical activity. Regular physical activity has been associated with reduced risk for colon cancer. It may also lower risk for breast and lung cancer. Physical activity also helps to protect us from all the cancers associated with being overweight or obese since it can help with weight control.
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